When a new movement in art attains a certain fashion, it isadvisable to find out what its advocates are aiming at, for, however farfetchedand unreasonable their principles may seem today, it is possible that in yearsto come they may be regarded as normal. With regard to Futurist poetry,however, the case is rather difficult, for whatever Futurist poetry may be―evenadmitting that the theory on which it is based may be right―it canhardly be classed as Literature.

This, in brief, is what the Futurist says: for a century, pastconditions of life have been conditionally speeding up, till now we live in aworld of noise and violence and speed. Consequently, our feelings, thoughts andemotions have undergone a corresponding change. This speeding up of life, saysthe Futurist, requires a new form of expression. We must speed up ourliterature too, if we want to interpret modern stress. We must pour out a largestream of essential words, unhampered by stops, or qualifying adjectives, orfinite verbs. Instead of describing sounds we must make up words that imitatethem; we must use many sizes of type and different colored inks on the samepage, and shorten or lengthen words at will.

Certainly their descriptions of battles are confused. But it is alittle upsetting to read in the explanatory notes that a certain line describesa fight between a Turkish and a Bulgarian officer on a bridge off which theyboth fall into the river—and then to find that the line consists of the noise of theirfalling and the weights of the officers: “ Pluff! Pluff! Ahundred and eighty-five kilograms.”

This, though it fulfills the laws and requirements of Futuristpoetry, can hardly be classed as Literature. All the same, no thinking man canrefuse to accept their first proposition: that a great change in our emotionallife calls for a change of expression. The whole question is really this: havewe essentially changed?

19. This passage is mainly____.

[A]a survey of new approaches to art

[B]a review of Futurist poetry

[C]about merits of the Futurist movement

[D]about laws and requirements of literature

20. When a novel literary idea appears, people should try to_____.

[A]determine its purposes

[B]ignore its flaws

[C]follow the new fashions

[D]accept the principles

21. Futurists claim that we must____.

[A]increase the production of literature

[B]use poetry to relieve modern stress

[C]develop new modes of expression

[D]avoid using adjectives and verbs

22. The author believes that Futurist poetry is____.

[A]based on reasonable principles

[B]new and acceptable to ordinary people

[C]indicative of basic change in human nature

[D]more of a transient phenomenon than literature